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Saturday, September 9, 2017

I find bits of news interesting not so much for what they say but the timing of it.

When James Sutter, co-creator of Pathfinder and Creative Director of Starfinder leaves Paizo less than a month after Starfinder's launch after 13 years with the company, I find myself looking at the tea leaves.

Coupled with industry rumors that Paizo has had cash flow issues (and sank a few million into the now cancelled Pathfinder MMO) and is now taking returns on unsold product I think there could be some more changes coming up. Pure half assed speculation on my part, but I wouldnt be surprised to see more departures.

But hey, freelancing pays well, right? I mean, who wouldn't leave a well paying job at the leading company in the industry to freelance?

This was pretty much it! Between Starfinder and Pathfinder, I feel like I've done most of what I wanted to do in the RPG industry, so I needed to start spending those 40+ hours a week on achieving some of my other goals. I think a lot of people were surprised that I'm leaving right as the money from Starfinder is rolling in, but once I've made a decision, I have a hard time waiting to enact it, so I decided to go out on a high note. :)

I'm curious where you heard that PFO was cancelled? I see on their site (https://goblinworks.com/pathfinder-online/) that they just pushed a new release about 2 weeks ago. I'm still hopeful that PFO becomes a great MMO - but maybe I missed some news?

That isn't a cancellation announcement, Tenkar, and it's two years out of date. They've continued development on the project since then, still giving regular updates. They're currently opening early enrollment. Here's good, current, info: https://goblinworks.com/

Didn't read his blog post before why start with the last.Companies always have to make adjustments when they have a decrease in demand for their product. What got TSR wasn't the 10 million in returns that they paid but the million in printer's bills that got called in afterwards. So has long has Paizo has a strong equity to debt ratio they will be fine.

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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (thank you Kickstarter) (edit) BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and will soon have some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep shipping shortly in my grubby hands awaiting a review..

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls (and still waiting on dT&T to ship).

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 48, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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